Seal assemblies are often utilized to journal the ends of a rotating shaft in a sealed manner. Such seal assemblies may be used in fluids processing technologies, such as wastewater treatment, food processing, materials handling and the like in which a rotatable shaft is utilized to carry cutters, spacers, baffles, diverters, agitators, mixers, pumping elements, etc. In many applications, it is desired to isolate the material being processed. However, the material being processed can be under high pressure and can be trapped in or otherwise interfere with proper operation and sealing of the seal assemblies.